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ADDEESS 



ITIZENS OF LOUISIA 



PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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McGiLL <fe VViTHBKow. Printers, 1107 E street, Wahhington, D. 0. 



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ADDRESS 

OF 

CITIZENS OF LOUISIANA, 

TO THE 

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The citizens of Louisiana have perceived with satisfaction 
that the people of the sister States are not unconcerned 
spectators of the events now transpiring witliin her limits, 
and of which it is probable no parallel can be found in the 
history of this or any other country. As these events were 
entirely brought about by the agency of officers, civil and 
military, of the General Government, the citizens of Louisi- 
ana, not doubting that the action of the Executive, at least, 
in reference to them, was the result of misapprehension of 
the facts, determined to adopt prompt measures for the cor- 
rection of the error. At a meeting held for that purpose, 
representing (we may safely say) a large preponderance of 
the moral worth, intelligence, and wealth of the city of 
New Orleans, a committee of one hundred gentlemen was 
appointed, with instructions to proceed immediately to 
Washington to lay the facts before the several departments 
of the Government, and to solicit their aid in repairing the 
gross wrong which had been done and in restoring to the 
people the right of self-government which had been wrested 
from them by the most patent usurpation. 

The undersigned form a part of that committee. On our 
arrival here we found so much misapprehension existing — 
even among those who are usually well informed — in regard 



to the origin and history of this disturbance, that we deter- 
mined to publish a brief narrative of tlie i'acts. 

The parties engaged in these proceedings, aware tliat if 
the facts were properly understood they would admit of no 
defense, now seek to belittle and conceal the question at 
issue, and to treat a conspiracy to overthrow the government 
of the State as a mere struggle for political ascendancy be- 
tween Governor War moth and Mr. Kelh^gg. They allege 
that tlie former was endeavoring by some trickery or leger- 
demain to clieat tlie latter out of his election, and tliat the 
object of their proceedings was simply to frustrate this at- 
temi)t. They have sedulously sought to j)r()duce the im- 
pression upon the public mind that this committee was 
composed of mere allies and agents of Governor Warmoth. 
We repel this insinuation as utterly false and unwarranted. 
We are not the representatives of any personal or i)aity 
interest whatever. Governor Warmotli was not a candidate 
for any office whatsoever at the recent election, nor have we, 
directly or indirectly, any connection or afHliation with him. 
So far as his past career is concerned, there are lew if any 
members of this committee who have not been among his 
most pronounced opponents; while in those measures of his 
administration I'or which he has been most loudly denounced, 
he had for his advisers, associates, and ciuidjutors, tlie very 
men who now assail liim, including especially Pinchb.ick, 
Antoine, Herron, and numerous others whose names figure 
most conspicuously in these proceedings. In ]"e[)ly to the 
other insinuations indicated above, we declare that we are 
no })arties to and have no knowledge of any i)olitical trick- 
ery intended to defeat the true voice of the people; that we 
do not believe any such existed, and that we would not be 
here unless we could proclaim conscientiously our conviction 
that the men who have been Ibisted into the offices of the 
State have been not merely irregularly and unlawfully in- 
stalled, but were not elected by the people, and were not 
and are not the choice of a majority of the voting popula- 
tion of Louisiana. We have not asked the Government to 
admit this on our simple assertion. All we have asked is 



that it should make a candid and impartial investigation of 
the facts. 

With this preface, we now submit the following state- 
ment: 

First. There was a general election held in Louisiana on 
the 4th day of November last for the election of a Gov- 
ernor, Lieutenant Governor, members of the General As- 
sembly, and other State and Federal officers. At this 
election William Pitt Kellogg, a member of the Senate of 
the Uiiiteil States, and C. G. Antoine, Collector of the port 
of Shreveport, were candidates for the offices of Governor and 
Lieutenant Governor, and were opposed by John McEnery 
and Davidson B. Penn. The present Governor, Warmoth, 
was not a candidate for re-election. 

Second. This election was conducted without riot, dis- 
turbance, or violence, and the nuuiber of votes cast was 
unusually large.* Tlie returns of the election were made 
to the boai'd ai)pointed for tlie purpose. This board was 
composed, under the law, of the Governor, (Warmoth,) the 
Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State, and two other 
persons named in the law, viz : John Lynch and Thomas 
C. Anderson. The office of Secretary of State was filled at 
the time by Mr. F. J. Herron, who had been a[)pointed by 
Governor Warmoth to fill the vacancy caused by the re- 
moval, several months before, of George E. Bovee, the 
legality of which removal and appointment was then in 
contest before the State courts. The board met, and it was 
resolved that Anderson and Pinchback were disqualified by 
reason of their being candidates for office. Warmoth then 
removed Herron (whom he had appointed) from the office 
of Secretary of State as a defaulter, and appointed and com- 
missioned Wharton in his stead. 

We have no reason to believe that the action of Governor 
Warmoth in the removal of Herron was based upon a desire 
to commit a fraud, for under the returns there was no ne- 
cessity for fiaud. It was prompted by his discovery of a 

*See Appendix A and B. 



plot between Herron and Lynch to falsify the returns and 
defeat the will of the people. This is manifest from the 
fact, developed in the evidence before the court, that Her- 
ron, anticipating the thwarting of his scheme, had several 
days before ordered a duplicate of the seal of State to be 
engraved, by which means he hoped to preserve the insig- 
nia of office in the event of liis removal by the Governor. 

Omitting fuither details, Warmotli and V/harton, on the 
one hand, assuming to be a majority of the board, and in 
the presence of Lynch, proceeded to elect Hatch and Da 
Ponte to fill the vacancies caused by tlie withdrawal of 
Pinchback and Anderson,* while Lynch and Herron after- 
ward assembled and, under the same assumption, elected 
Longstreet and Hawkins. Thus there came to be two 
bodies — each claiming to be the returning board — one pre- 
sided over by Grovernor Warmoth, the highest executive 
officer of tlie State and under the law the presiding officer 
of the board, and which had possession of all the election 
returns and everything necessary to ascertain the result; 
while the other consisted of Lynch, the removed Secretary 
of State, Herron, and their two appointees. Afterwards 
the State Supreme Court decided that the removal of Bovee 
and the original appointment of Herron were illegal, and 
Bovee was reinstated in his office. Whatever may be said 
of these contesting boards, it is clear that the courts of the 
United States had no semblance of authority to decide be- 
tween their conflicting claims to office. 

Third. After it had become probalile that the two candi- 
dates, William Pitt Kellogg and C. C. Antoine, had been 
defeated, and that their opj)onents would be declared elect- 
ed, they respectively filed bills in the circuit court of the 
United States for the district of Louisiana for injunction 
and relief. The Governor of the State, the members uf the 
canvassing board, other citizens of the State connected with 
the promulgation of the returns, and ceitain persons elected 
or claiming to have been elected to the Legislature and to 

* See Appendix C. 



the Governship, were made defendants in one or other of 
these suits. Tlie cause of complaint was, that they sever- 
ally apprehended that they would be deprived of the offices 
for which they had been candidates. They claimed to have 
had the majority of votes at the election, and that there had 
been 10,000 voters prevented from voting because of their 
complexion and previous state of servitude, whose votes they 
would have received. The bill of Kellogg professed to be 
for the preservation and perpetuation of the evidence of the 
election, and to have rei'erence to tlie support of a suit he 
miy;lit have to brin"; to recover the office. Antoine's suit 
was similar in the claims of title, and had reference in its 
prayers for relief to the organization of the General Assem- 
bly at the meeting called, in the proclamation of the Gov- 
ernor, for the 9th day of December, 1872. 

Fourth. The parties to these suits were all citizens of the 
State of Louisiana. The object of the suits was to assert 
title to offices of the State in advance of any decision or an- 
nouncement by any board of any person as elected, and to 
determine the persons to make the decision and the an- 
nouncement, by the judicial authority. of the Circuit Court 
of the United States. Pending the suits,* an ex parte and 
private order was made in the suit of Kellogg, declaring 
that the defendant, H. C. Warmoth^ the Governor, had, in 
violation of the restraining order of the court, issued a 
proclamation and publislied the returns of certain persons 
claiming to be the board of returning officers, and proceed- 
ing as follows: 

"Now, tlierefore, to prevent the further obstruction of the 
proceedings in this cause, and further to prevent the viola- 
tion of the orders of this court, and the imminent danger of 
disturbing the public peace, it is hereby ordered that the 
Marshal of the United States for tlie district of Louisiana 

* The decision of the court upon the question of jurisdiction was not ren- 
dered until 11^ o'clock on the morning of the 6th of December, whereas the 
order of Judge Durell, directing tlie marshal to take possession of tlie State 
House, was issued at a late hour of the night before, under the most peculiar 
circumstances, and executed before the dawn of day. 



shall forthwith take possession of the building known as the 
Meclianics' Institute, and occupied as a State Plouse for the 
assembling of the Legislature therein, in the City of New 
Orleans, and hold the same subject to the further order of 
this court, and meanwhile to prevent all unlawful assem- 
blage tlierein under the guise or pretext of authority claimed 
by virtue of pretended canvass and returns made by said re- 
turning officers in contempt and violation of said restraining 
order; but the Marshal is directed to allow the ingress and 
egress to and from the public offices in said building of per- 
sons entitled to the same." 

Fifth. The interlocutory and ex parte order in tlie suit of 
Antoine, the candidate for Lieutenant Governor, seems to 
have been made as the complement to the order above quoted 
in the suit of Kellogg, which directed the occupation of the 
State Ca})itol by the Marshal, with directions to proliibit 
what is termed in the order "an unlawful assemblage," 
while the same Marshal is directed to allow the ingress and 
egress of persons whom he miglit determine to be entitled to 
such a privilege. This order, in the case of Antoine, is com- 
prehensive and explicit. None can mistake its import or 
its oV»ject. It provided : 

First. That the Governor of the State be enjoined and 
restrained from examining the election returns or counting 
votes, except in the presence of officers designated in these 
orders, and from controlling, interfering with, or attempt- 
ing to interfere with, the organization of the State Legisla- 
ture, and from doing any act, or from giving any order or 
direction, or making any re(][uest which may directly or in- 
directly prevent or hinder any person from being })reseiit 
and taking ])art in the organization of the Senate on the 
9th of December, or at any future day, who may be re- 
turned as a member thereof by a board com[)osed of H. C. 
Warmoth, George E. Bovee, James Longstreet, Jacob Haw- 
kins, and Jolin Lynch, and whose name has been transmitted 
to Charles Merritt, Secretary of the Senate, by George E, 
Bovee, Secretary of State. 

Second. That 20 named persons, who had been candi- 



dates for the office of Senator in the State Senate, and who 
were supposed to have heen elected, and had been declared 
to be so, be enjoined and restrained from participating in 
any manner in the organization of the Senate, or doing any 
act about that organization, unless their names should ap- 
pear on Bovee's list of names of members of the Senate, as 
transmitted to the Secretary of the Senate, Charles Merritt. 

Third. About 100 persons whose names are given, and 
who were supposed to have been elected to the House of 
Representatives of the Greneral Assembly, and had been 
declared to be so elected, were similarly enjoined from 
participating in the organization of the House of Repre- 
fientatives, or from doing any act or casting any vote, un- 
less their names were on Bovee's list of members. 

Fourth. The clerks of the Senate and of the House of Rep- 
resentatives were severally enjoined from placing on any 
list, or announcing, or recognizing, or designating as a 
member, prior to or during the organization of the re- 
spective Houses, any person whose name was not placed 
upon Bovee's list. 

Fifth. The Secretary of State (Bovee) was enjoined irom 
receiving any returns of the election of State officers, or of 
members of the General Assembly, excepting such as should 
be filed in his office by the board composed of Warmoth, 
Longstreet, Hawkins, Lynch, and Bovee. 

Sixth. Tlie Chief of the Metropolitan Police, and all of its 
members, numbering about 300, and the board, were en- 
joined from interfering with the organization of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, and from preventing the persons on Bovee's 
list from entering into the halls of the Assembly. 

Seventh. The persons composing the board recognized by 
the Governor were enjoined from acting as a canvassing 
board, and from declaring and publishing any calculation, 
statement, or proclamation of the results, or granting cer- 
tificates of election, or statements tending to show any right 
to office growing out of ballots cast at said election. 

The Marslial, assisted by a detachment from the Army of 
the United States, under these orders took possession of the 



8 

State Capitol, and held it on the 9th of December, when the 
General Assembly was to convene under the proclamation 
of the Governor. The egress and ingress of persons were 
regulated according to this order. A person named Pinch- 
back took possession of the chair of the Senate, and 
directed its organization. He had been a Senator for a term 
that had expired. While a Senator he had been President 
of the Senate, and in virtue of such presidency, under the 
law, had acted as Lieutenant Governor after the death of 
Dunn, the Lieutenant Governor chosen in 1868; but at the 
time of these occurrences he was not merely functus officio as 
President of the Senate, but was no longer a Senator, and had 
no title or color of title to act as Lieutenant Governor, or to 
take any part in the organization of the Senate.* The House 
of Representatives was also organized, the U. S. Postmaster 
at New Orleans being its Speaker. The certificates of Bovee 
under the injunction were taken as conclusive evidence of 
membership. The House passed resolutions for the impeach- 
ment of the Governor, and thus Pinchback felt at liberty to 
assume the title of Governor. Two district courts were abol- 
ished, and a new court, called the Superior Court, f was es- 
tablished, with extraordinary powers, and, among others, 
exclusive jurisdiction to determine title to office, and Mr. 
Hawkins, one of the members of the Bovee board, which had 
made the election returns, was made judge. Steps having 
been taken by the Governor, in his official capacity, to secure 
a revision, by the Supreme Court of the United States, of the 
chancery orders of the United States Circuit Court, these 
bodies forthwith adopted resolutions to dismiss these pro- 
ceedings.]; The militia was placed under the command of 
General James Longstreet, another member of the Bovee 
board, and the arsenals were taken possession of by the aid 
of United States troops. 

It has been supposed that no amount of professioual 
energy and skill was adequate to make a coup de main in 
a chancery cause. This statement shows that a civil revo- 

*See Appendix D. f See Appendix E. J See Appendix F. 



lution was commenced, carried on, and accoraplislied with- 
in a lunar month, under the orders of a chancery court, in 
suits over which tlie court had no jurisdiction at all, whether 
of parties or subject-matter.* The Circuit Court of the 
United States is a court of limited jurisdiction, and with- 
out authority to entertain civil suits between citizens of 
the same State, unless the case arises directly under the 
Constitution and laws of the United States and jurisdic- 
tion is vested by act of Congress. Congress has no power 
to confer jurisdiction in any other case between such citi- 
zens. It has no authority to give jurisdiciion of a suit of 
a citizen of the State against the State. Under the act of 
Congress of Ma^' 31, 1870, upon a single condition of facts, 
a citizen of a State may maintain a suit for an office of a 
State in the courts of the United States, but the State Legis- 
lature is specially excepted from the operation of this act in 
the same clause that excepts the office of members of Con- 
gress and Presidential electors. f The ex parte preliminary 
order in the case of Antoine is as explicit a determination of 
the title of the members of the Legislature, and furnishes 
as complete a writ of possession, as could be devised. The 
organization of the Legislature is effected by a simple 
chancery order. 

Had there been resistance to the execution of these orders, 
and had riot and bloodshed tbliowed, upon whom would 
have fallen the responsibility? By whose forbearance was 
it that a bloody catastrophe has not been exhibited as a 
scandal to the land? It sometimes happens that the exe- 
cutive department is^tolerated, excused, or justified in acts 
of administration which exceed its legal powers. The argu- 
ments derived from the terms " State necessity," "public 
welfare," or "convenience," have here a soothing influ- 
ence; but judiciary action is not entitled to any benefit from 
such arguments. The damage which ensues fr'om the em- 
ployment of judiciary power to accomplish other than jntli- 
cial acts of administration cannot be calculated, and it is 

* See Appendix G. f See Appendix H. 



10 

imposgible to justify a court in determining that to be leg-al 
which is merely desirable, or that to be right which is only 
profitable. The order iu the Kellogg case was ex ■parte. It 
■was ]ilaced in the hands of the Marshal without notice to 
the parties. It proceeds for an alleged contempt by no 
legjil procedure usual in matters of the sort, and we are 
not aware of any imminence of danger to the public peace 
which did or could justify the seizure of the State Capitol 
in a cliancery suit between Kellogg and a canvassing board, 
a suit professedly brought to perpetuate testimony. 

The case of Antoine displays with even more distinctness 
than that of Kellogg the use that has been made of judicial 
orders to accomplish results of which the judiciary had no 
cognizance. Antoine was a candidate for Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, and would have been entitled to his office in Jan- 
uary next had he been elected. With a disputed title, a 
month in advance, he filed this bill and obtained the order 
we have cited, placing under interdict the Governor, the 
Secretary of State, the members elect of both branches of 
the Genera] Assembly, the board and all the officers and 
men of the police, and the members of two canvassing 
boards; and upon this ex parte order the organization of the 
General Assembly, at a time when he (Antoine) had no 
share in any of its sittings, was rcijulated and efl^ected. 

Since the meeting in New Orleans Tinder which the com- 
mittee was appointed, we have been met with the suggestion 
that these orders and acts are 'facts accomplished, and that 
their revocation or rescission would not restore the status 
quo, and that our complaints, therefore, are unreasonable. 
If the opinion we have be correct, such a circumstance ought 
not to afiect our action or conduct. When the King of Great 
Britain established arbitrarily a government in one of the 
colonies, the remaining colonies took the alarm, lest it 
might serve as a precedent as well as an instrument to es- 
tablish such governments elsewhere. Besides, men are less 
patient under wrongful orders and acts of a judiciary tri- 
bunal than even of violence from other sources of authority. 
A government which rests for its organization upon an 



11 

illegal judicial order, executed by a marshal with companies 
of soldiers, does not command as much respect or authority 
as if the judicial appendages had been dispensed with, and 
the army had set up the government witli a strong and 
usurping hand. 

The committee take the liberty to say that they hare had 
no connection with these suits as parties or attorneys; 
neither do they claim any of the offices in dispute. They 
have not heretofore been concerned in the controversies 
among the political classes which have endangered the 
peace of, and brought scandal upon, the State. They affirm 
that, during the last four years, there has not been good 
government in Louisiana. There has been extravagance, 
prodigality, dishonesty, and waste in the public expendi- 
tures. The public debt has been enormously increased, with 
but little corresponding benefit. The credit of the State 
has been given to speculating corporations, for personal 
aims. The taxes on property have assumed such propor- 
tions that they might appropriately be called rents paid by 
the proprietors to the State for its occupation and use. The 
taxes upon business oppress the commercial and laboring 
classes. The laws to control elections, corporations, and 
public institutions stimulate these excesses of office-holders, 
and the consequence is universal depression and discontent. 
The State needs an honest, faithful, and responsible gov- 
ernment, conducted to attain public objects, and not to 
enrich its members or to perpetuate their power. There 
was an earnest effort to obtain such a government at the 
last election, but a political conspiracy has unfortunately 
defeated it. 

We affirm, without fear of contradiction, that the fore- 
going statement exhibits on the part of the United States 
court the most high-handed usurpation of jurisdiction and 
authority of which the annals of jurisprudence afford any 
example.* The action of the returning board recognized 
and vested with all its powers by this court, has been 

* See Appendix I. 



12 

equally unprecedented. Without any official returns before 
them, without any of the official data on which alone their 
action could have been rightfully based, they have presumed 
to proclaim the results of the election. The declaration by 
them of the votes cast in the different parishes is as purely 
fanciful as if no election whatever had been held. 

The have arbitrarily reduced and increased the votes on 
one side or the other in different parishes to suit their pur- 
poses. In several parishes, while retaining or even adding 
to the votes cast for their candidates, they have simply an- 
nihilated or stricken out entirely the votes cast for their 
opponents. In other parishes they have exactly reversed 
the returns, giving to their candidates the majority which 
had really been returned for their opponents.* They have 
not pretended to furnish the public with any explanation of 
the basis on which they proceeded, or the theory on which 
they acted. Their whole conduct is without any kind of 
reasonable explanation. 

We submit to the people of the United States that such 
proceedings reach a point at which the whole theory of 
popular government is reversed and overthrown. The 
means by which such results have been reached are enough 
to startle the public mind, but the results themselves are 
not less appalling. Aside from the general offices of the 
State, we find the Legislature of the State delivered over 
into the hands of men who were not elected, and who are 
utterly unfit for positions of such responsibility. As origi- 
nallj^ composed at its organization, it comprised sixty-eight 
persons of color, most of them totally uneducated, with a 
very small minority of whites. Since that time they have 
expelled members whose seats were uncontested. They have 
unseated conservative members returned elected by their 
own board, and seated their defeated opponents, on the 
simple ground that the former had not appeared to claim 
their seats. f The result is that, originally bad as the Leg- 
islature was, it makes itself worse day by day, and the 

*See Appendix J. f See Appendix K. 



13 

prospect is that soon the conservative element of the State 
will have no representation whatever. To those who flat- 
tered themselves with the hope that Mr. Kellogg would 
not willingly abet any scheme of outrageous misgovern- 
ment, it is now apparent that, even supposing this to be 
true, the power of restraint has passed entirely beyond his 
control, and that, should he attempt to thwart the schemes 
of this Legislature, his own impeachment would be a 
probable event of the future. 

In conclusion, we would state that we have attempted to 
perform the duties of our mission in the purest lion-purti- 
san spirit, and that we have not sought to furnish capital 
to any political party or to excite popular clamor in the 
interests of any faction. We have laid our case before the 
President and his Attorney General, and we willinglj- tes- 
tify that we have been courteously received and patiently 
listened to. While they have refused the specific measures 
of relief for which we applied, they have given reasons for 
such refusal in no manner implying any indisposition to 
see justice done. 

They have referred us to Congress, and we feel assured 
that we shall have the immediate sanction of the President 
so far as we invite an impartial investigation of the facts 
of our case, and that we shall have his co-operation in any 
measures of relief whieh Congress may adopt after such 
investigation. The people of Louisiana, ignoring party, 
are conscious of halving made an honorable effort to place 
in otKce men of tried probity. They seek justice, not gen- 
erosity. They ask for a calm, impartial examination into 
the recent extraordinary occurrences within their borders, 
in order that the truth may be known, and that there may 
be a speedy correction of the dangerous evils now threat- 
ening the very life of their State. 

Washington, D. C, Dec. 23, 1872. 

J. A, Campbell, John Fairbanks, 

J. Aldigg, C. E. Fenner, 

August Bohn, E. B. Wheelockj 

Joseph Bowlingj A. B. Griswold, 



14 



N. Barnett, 
A. Chiapella, 
J. S. Copes, 
H. W. Conner, 
H. D. Coleman, 
John C. Potts, 
John F. Pollock, 
J. Tuyes, 
James Wallace, 
Walker Fearn, 
D. C. Labatt, 
H. 0. Seixas, 
J. W. Labouisse, 
D. West, 
Richard Taylor, 
Mayer Stern, 
R. Pugh, 
George W. Squires, 



G. Kohn, 
H. McCloskey, 
G. W. Nott, 
H. V. Ogden, 
W. S. Pike, 
F. A. liaber, 
H. Gardes, 
P. M. Baker, 
Albert C. Janin, 
S. Hernsheim, 
T. H. Kennedy, 
J. M. Scott, 
Al. Miltenberger. 
H. G. Darcy, 
Sella Martin, 
W. Marks, 
C. M. Wilcox, 
H. R. Cramer. 



APPENDIX 



J. 

The New Orleans Republican, (the organ of tlie Radical 
Rei)nblican party,) of the 19th of November, in an editorial 
article, admitted i'rankly and unequivocally that the elec- 
tion held on the 4th of that month was tlie fairest and most 
peaceable ever known in tlie State of Louisiana; that no 
negro had been depiived of his right to vote because of his 
color ; that there had been every disposition to allow to him 
the unmolested enjoyment of his rights; and that complete 
conciliation existed between the two races. 

B. 

The total vote in November last for Governor, exclusive 
of the three parishes of St. James, Terrebonne, and St. 
Tammany, from which irregular and informal returns only 
were received, amounted to 128,402. The total vote of the 
State in 1870 was only 106,542. 

C. 

Extract from New Orleans evening papers of November 13ih. 

When the board met to-day, Governor Warmoth, Acting 
Secretary of State Herron, and Senator John Lynch being 
present, the Governor, after the reading of the minutes, 
presented the certificate of Auditor Graham, to the effect 
that. Secretary of State Herron being a defaulter, he had 
been comj)elled by the constitution and laws to suspend him 
from the exercise of his functions, on charges which would 
be enumerated to the Senate. Accordingly Secretary of 
State Herron was requested to withdraw from the board, 
which he did. The Governor next presented the commis- 
sion, and the evidence of his qualification for the office, of 
Colonel J Wliarton, as tlie successor of General Herron. 
Colonel Wharton was in tlie ante-room, and on being sent 
for pr()n)|)tly appeared and took his seat in the board. 

Governor Warmoth then proposed the name of F. H. 
Hatch as a substitute for Lieutenant Governor Pincliback, 
which was adopted by the votes of Governor Warmoth and 



16 

Secretary of State Wharton, Senator Lyncli voting "No." 
It was further moved that Durant Daponte be elected in 
place of Senator Thomas Anderson. These nominations 
were adopted by the board, whereupon Senator Lynch re- 
tired. The board, being thus completed according to law, 
will proceed to its duties. 

D. 

On Monday, November 9th, at the Mechanics' Institute, 
at the organization of the Senate, pursuant to the Gov- 
ernor's proclamation, it was desired by a n)ajority of the 
holding-over Senators, and which majoi'ity were nearly all 
Republicans, that the names of those holding over, and of 
those returned by both boards, should first be called. These 
Senators, according to all law and precedent, would then 
determine who were entitled to seats in all cases of doubt 
or wliere no returns had been made by tlie Custom-house 
board. But this did not suit the purposes of the Cus- 
tom-house party. Mr. Pinchhack, who had called the Sen- 
ate to order, refused to recognize any motion whatsoever, 
and ordered the calling of the roll according to the list 
prepared at the Custom-house. Greneral MclMillen, a 
staunch Rejtuhlican, sprang to his feet, and objected to the 
arbitrary ruling and usurpation of Mr. Pinchhack. The 
latter refused to hear him or to receive his protest. Other 
Republicans, General H. J. Campbell among the number, 
denounced Mr. Pinchback's action, and protested against 
his presiding over the Senate. Their efforts were useless. 
United States marshals and United States soldiers were on 
evei-y hand, and their instructions from E. H. Dui-ell, judge 
of the United States district court, were to obey the behests 
of Mr. Pinchhack. 

And this is the reason why objections were made to Mr. 
Pinchback's further presiding over the Senate. He was 
elected in 18G8 Senator from the second district of New 
Orleans for a term of four years, wliich expired at tlie last 
election, when ex-Lieutenant Goveinor A. Voorliies was 
elected to succeed him. At the death of Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor Dunn, Senator Pinchhack was elected President of the 
Senate, and thereby became Lieutenant Governor ex officio. 
At the regular session of 1872 Mr. Pinchhack always claimed 
the ri(/ht to vote as Senator, and did so vote, as the journal 
will siiow. 

When ex-Governor M. Hahn resigned his office, and J. 
Madison Wells, Lieutenant Governor, became Governor in 



17 

his stead. Senator Louis Gastinel was chosen President of 
the Senate, and thereby became ex officio Lieutenant Grov- 
ernor. All acts thereafter passed during that term are 
signed "Louis Gastinel, ex officio Lieutenant Governor and 
President of the Senate." That was according to the law 
of 18(i5, which says that, when a vacancy sliall occbr in 
the office of Lieutenant Governor, "the Senate shall elect 
a President, who shall be Lieutenant Governor." This 
law has been copied verbatim in Ray's Revised Statutes, 
1870. At the ensuing election Governor Wells was a can- 
didate for re-election, and Judge A. Voorhies for Lieutenant 
Governor. Lnmediately after the election Governor Wells 
called a special session of the Legislature, to assemble at 
Medianics' Institute, November 25, 1865. The Senate hav- 
ing been called to order by the President, Mr. Gastinel, 
Mr. Kenner objected to his presiding any furtlier, as his 
term of office had expired, and his successor was present. 
Thereupon Mr. Victor Burthe, of Jefferson, was placed in 
the chair as President. On the 2d of December the votes 
for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were counted, and 
on the 4th Mr. Albert Voorhies was installed as Lieutenant 
Governor, thereby becoming President of the Senate. 

There i's a precedent: the case is precisely in point; the 
facts agree in every respect. The Senate is the sole judge 
of the qualifications of its members, and it has given a con- 
struction to a law which has been re-enacted since that con- 
struction of it. Judge Durell is without authority, even 
under the enforcement law, to create a Legislature or in 
any way control its organization. It is deemed proper that 
these facts and this precedent be spread abroad through 
every State, and the National Government be fully apprized 
that the man who has been recognized as "Acting Gov- 
ernor of Louisiana" is absolutely without right to hold such 
office. 

E. 

An Act to establish an additional district court for the parish of Orleans; 
to define and limit the jurisdiction, and to determine the powers thereof; 
to provide for the transfer of certain cases now depending before certain 
other district courts for said parish to the court hereb}' created ; to authorize 
the Governor to appoint a judge and a clerk for said court, and to provide 
a court room for said court; to abolish the Seventh and Eiglith District 
Courts for the parish of Orleans, and to provide for the transfer of the 
records and suits in said Seventh and Eighth District Courts to other courts 
in said parish. 

Section 1 . Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the State of Louisiana in General Assembly con- 

2 



18 

vened, That there shall be, and is hereby established, an 
additional district court for the parish of Orleans, which 
shall be known and designated as the Superior District 
Court for the parish of Orleans. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, etc., That the Superior Dis- 
trict Court hereby created shall have exclusive jurisdiction 
in and for the parish of Orleans, to issue writs of injunctions, 
mandamuses, quo warranto, and to entertain all proceed- 
ings, and to try all cases or actions in which the right to 
any office. State, parish, or municipal, is in any way in- 
volved. ****** 

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, etc., That the offices of 
judge and clerk of the Superior District Court for the parish 
of Orleans, hereby established and organized, shall be 
deemed to be vacant as in case of original vacancy. The 

Governor shall at once fill such vacancies by appointment. 

******* 

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, etc.. That the act of the 
General Assembly, approved March 16, 1870, entitied "An 
act to establish an additional district court for the parish of 
Orleans, to define the jurisdiction thereof, and to reorganize 
and determine the jurisdiction of the existing seven district 
courts for the i)arish of Orleans," be and the same -is hereby 
repealed, in so lar as it establishes and organizes the Eighth 
District Court for the parish of Orleans; it being the intent 
and purpose of this act to abolish the said Eighth District 
Court for the parish of Orleans, and the said Eighth Dis- 
trict Court for the parish of Orleans be and is hereby abol- 
ished. * * * * * * ^ 

Sec 8. Be it further enacted, etc.. That the Seventh Dis- 
trict Court for the parish of Orleans be and is hereby abol- 
ished. ****** 

Sec 9. Be it further enacted, etc., That all laws or parts 
of laws in conflict with this act be and the same are hereby 
repealed, so far as they are in conflict, and this act shall 
have force and effect from and after its passage. 

(Signed) Charles W. Lowell, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
(Signed) A. B. Harris, 

President of the Senate and Acting Lieutenant Governor. 
Approved December 11, 1872. 

(Signed) P. B. S. Pinchback, 

Lieutenant Governor and Acting Governor of Louisiana. 
A true copy : 

Geo. E. Bovee, 

Secretary of State. 



19 
F. 

An Act relative to the office of Attorney General, and directing the discon- 
tinuance of certain proceedings before the Supreme Court of the United 
States. 

Section 1 . Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the State of Louisiana in Geney^al Assembly con- 
vened: Whereas the Hon. A. P. Field has been duly pro- 
mulgated as having been elected to the office of Attorney 
General of this State j ***** * and 
whereas other persona are claiming to represent the State 
of Louisiana in judicial proceedings: That the said A. P. 
Field, and his legal successors, and those acting under him 
or them, be alone authorized to institute or continue in the 
name of the State of Louisiana any suit or judicial proceed- 
ing, and all other persons are prohibited from doing the 
same. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, etc., That the said A. P. 
Field is authorized and instructed to discontinue any and 
all proceedings instituted in the Supreme Court of the 
United States by H. N. Ogden or any other person in the 
name of the said State. 

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, etc., That this act shall take 
eflfect from and after its passage. 

(Signed) Charles W. Lowell, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
(Signed) A. B. Harris, 

President of the Senate, Acting Lieutenant Governor. 
Approved December 10, 1872, 

(Signed) P. B. S. Pinchback, 

Lieutenant Governor, Acting Governor 
of the State of Louisiana. 
A true copy : 

George E. Bovee, 

Secretary of State. 

G. 

Constihition of the State of Louisiana. 

Art. 52. No member of Congress or any person holding 
office under the United States Government shall be eligible 
to the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor. 



20 

Constitution of the State of California. 

Art. 4, Sec. 21. No person holding any lucrative office 
under the United States, or any other Power, shall be eligi- 
ble to any civil office of profit under this State. 

CASE. 

Searcy Y. Groiv, (15 California Reports, 117): 
The court, consisting of Chief Justice Stephen J. Field, 
and Associate Justices Baldwin and Cope, say : 

" The counsel for the appellant contends that the true 
meaning of the constitution is, that the person holding the 
federal office described in the 21st section is forbidden to take 
a civil State office while so holding the other; but that he 
is ca})able of receiving votes cast for him, so as to give him 
a riglit to take the State office upon or after resigning the 
federal office. But we think the })lain meaning of the words 
quoted is the o])posite of this construction. The language 
is not tliat a federal officer shall not hold a State office wliile 
he is such federal officer, but that he shall not, while in 
such federal office, be eligible to the State office. We un- 
derstand the word 'eligible' to mean ca})able of being 
chosen — the subject of selection or choice. The peoi)le in 
this case were clotlied with this power of choice; their se- 
lection of the candidate gave him all the claim to the office 
wliich he has; his title to the office comes from their desig- 
nation of him as sheriff. But they could not designate or 
clioose a man not eligible, i. e., not ca})able of being selected. 
They might select any Uian they chose, subject only to this 
excej>tion, that the man tliey selected was capable of taking 
what they had the power to give. We do not see how the 
fact that he became capable of taking the office after they 
had exhausted their power can avail the appellant. If he 
was not eligible at the time the votes were cast for him, the 
election failed. We do not see how it can be argued, that 
by the act of tlie candidate the votes which, when cast, were 
ineffectual, ))ecause not given for a qualified candidate, be- 
came effectual to elect him to office. Can it be contended, 
that if Grow had not been a citizen of tlie county or of the 
State at the time of the election, or had been an alien at 
that time, that the bare fact that he did so become a citizen 
at tlie time he qualitied wouhl entitle him to the office? 
Or suppose a man, when elected, under sentence and con- 



21 

viction for crime — if such a case can be supposed — would a 
pardon before qualification ^ive him a right to hold the 
office? When the words of the constitution are phain, we 
cannot go into curious s[)eculation of the policy they meant 
to declare. It may, however, liave been a part of the [)olicy 
of the provision quoted to prevent the employment of federal 
patronage in a State election." 

H. 

Act of May 31, 1870. 

Sec. 23. And be it further enacted, That whenever any 
person shall be defeated or deprived of his election to any 
office, except elector of President or Vice President, Repre- 
sentative or Delegate in Congress, or member of a State Leg- 
islature,, by reason of the denial to any citizen or citizens 
who shall offer to vote of the light to vote on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude, his right to 
hold and enjoy such office, and the emoluments thereof, 
shall not be impaii'ed by such denial ; and such person may 
bring any ap[>ropriate suit or |)roceeding to recover posses- 
sion of such office; and in cases where it shall ai)pear that 
the sole question touching the title to such office arises 
out of the denial of the right to vote to citizens who so 
offered to vote on account of race, color, or previous con- 
dition of servitude, such suit or proceeding may be institu- 
ted in the circuit or district court of the United States of the 
circuit or district in wliich such person resides. Aud said 
circuit or district court shall have, concurrently with the 
State courts, jurisdiction thereof, so far as to determine the 
rights of the parties to such office by reason of the denial of 
the right guaranteed by the fifteenth article of amendment 
to the Constitution of the United States, and secured by this 
act. (Stat, at Large, Vol. XVI, p. 146.) 

I. 

By the decree or, rather, the interlocutory order of a United 
States district judge, it is attempted, in spite of the over- 
whelming expression of the will of the people of the State, 
to establish over the State of Louisiana a government con- 
sisting of a United States Senator for Governor, the Collec- 
tor of a Port as the Lieutenant Governor, the United States 
Treasurer for State Auditor, a Surveyor of the Port for 



22 

President of the Senate, the Postmaster of New Orleans for 
Speaker of the House, a Deputy Collector for Chairman of 
the Finance Committee of the Legislature, and a Legisla- 
ture composed principally of defeated candidates, most of 
whom are in the employ and pay of the Federal Grovern- 
ment. 

J. 

Extract from the Message of the Governor, of December 11, 1872. 

It is scarcely necessary to state what is so well-known to 
all of you, that the election recently held was fairly and 
honestly conducted under the laws of the State, and that 
the registration and the vote were both unusally full, the 
latter being the largest ever cast in Louisiana. 

The total vote for Governor, exclusive of the three parishes 
of St. James, Terrebonne, and St. Tammany, from which 
irregular and informal returns were received, amounted to 
128,402, an increase of 21,860 on the vote of 1870. The 
Republican vote, estimating and adding the three omitted 
parislies at the same vote cast in 1870 (3,734,) is only 2,461 
below the vote cast for the Republican State ticket at the 
last election, and it is well known that thousands of Repub- 
lican voters throughout the State, at this election, supported 
the Fusion ticket. The returns made by the State officers 
were in due form, and these returns are the only official 
evidence in existence of the vote at the late election. The 
pretense of the agents selected by Senator Kellogg to pro- 
mulgate an official falsification of tlie result, that they have 
made a com])ilation of the votes, is only one of the bold and 
audacious falsehoods by which every step of the conspirators 
has been marked. Tliose persons had no returiis, no docu- 
ments, no evidence of any kind in their possession, except 
the statements made up by themselves and their allies for 
the consummation of their fraudulent purposes, A com- 
parison of the tabulated statement published by them with 
the genuine returns, as previously published, shows that 
they did their work in flagrant defiance of decency, and 
witi)out even an attempt to conceal their fraud and false- 
hood i'rom the eyes of the public. The bill filed by Senator 
Kellogg alleged simply a deficiency in his returned vote of 
about 10,000, due to an alleged suppression of a portion of 
votes actually cast and a refusal to register or to receive 
another portion. The alleged suppression was totally false, 
and was supported by no evidence whatever — not even the 



23 

simulated cross-mark affidavits with which the conspirators 
so liberally provided themselves in advance. The affidavits 
filed by them amounted to about 4,000 in number, accord- 
ing to their own statement. If they had simply added this 
number to the total, it would have given Senator Kellogg 
64,233 votes, against 68,169 for McEnery, not enough to 
show an apparent election, even including the vote tor the 
three omitted [)arishes. They therefore, without returns, 
without testimony of any kind, without even adopting and 
following any rational theory of computation, added the 
enormous number of 12,675 to Senator Kellogg's vote, and 
as if to still further insult the intelligence of the public, 
and still more flagrantly expose their own falsehood and 
wickedness, they deliberately struck off 14,140 from the vote 
cast for Mr. McEnery. The returns from the pai'ish of Bossier 
were, for McEnery 953, for Kellogg 555. They report for 
Kellogg 1,159, for McEnery none. The vote of Natchi- 
toches was for McEnery 1,250, for Kellogg 550. They report 
for Kellogg 1,206, for McEnery none. In Assumption they 
have added 504 to Kellogg's vote, and subtracted 454 from 
McEnery. In Avoyelles they add 525 to Kellogg's vote, 
and subtract 454 from McEnery's. In East Baton Rouge 
they add 1,343 to Kellogg's vote, and subtract 127 from 
McEnery's. In De Soto they add 578 to Kellogg's vote, 
and subtract 660 from McEnery's; in Plaquemine they add 
1,129 to Kellogg's vote; in St. Landry they add 545 to 
Kellogg's vote, and subtract 555 from McEnery's; in Ver- 
non, where McEnery has 669 votes, they allow him 112 ; in 
Winn, where McEnery has 575 votes, they allow him 127; 
in Washington, where McEnery has 453 votes, they allow 
him 194; in St. Mary they add 300 to Kellogg's vote, and 
subtract 500 from McEnery's; in Union, where McEnery 
has 1,418 votes, they allow him 460; in Orleans they strike 
between 3,000 and 4,000 from McEnery's vote; and in al- 
most every parish they have made changes equally capri- 
cious and irrational, and returns equally false and fraudu- 
lent; and these are the men who based their suit at law 
upon the charge that the Governor and the returning offi- 
cers intended to falsify, to mutilate, and to destroy tlie elec- 
tion returns. These returns are in existence; they retain 
all the integrity of their original form. They are unmuti- 
lated and unfalsified ; they constitute the only evidence of 
the late election that any law recognizes, or that any honest 
judicial tribunal would accept. They have never been in 
the hands of the conspirators, and yet these persons, pre- 



24 

tending to act as public officials, have promulgated results 
80 monstrously at variance with the truth, that they seem 
to court the notoriety of falsehood and to revel in the pub- 
licity of fraud. 

K, 

Extract from a report of the proceedings of the Legislature. 

"House. — The House met at 12 m. Seventy members 
present. Mr. Sauer in the chair. 

Mr. Demas introduced the following resolution, which 
was adopted: 

Whereas the Committee on Elections and Qualifications 
of this House have, after due investigation, reported favor- 
ably upon the applications of W. H. Decker and Radford 
R. Davis, Re])resentatives from the Tenth Representative 
District, parish of Orleans ; 

Whereas the said W. H. Decker and Radford R. Davis 
are the only applicants for seats as Representatives elect to 
this House; 

And whereas the people of the Tenth and Eleventh 
Wards of the parish of Orleans, comprising the said Tenth 
Representative District, are now without re})resentation or 
voice in the Legislature of this State: 

lie-solved ., That in consonance with the re])ort of the Com- 
mittee on Elections of this House, and in view of the fact 
that the said Decker and Davis are the only applicants for 
seats in this body, that the said Decker and Davis be and 
they are hereby admitted to seats in this House, subject to 
any contest which may be hereafter made." 

The members elect denied seats by this resolution are 
Messrs. James McConnell and James B. Eustis, who were 
elected by overwhelming majorities, and whose election was 
admitted by the Custom-house board, but who absented 
themselves from the Legislature because of the illegality of 
its proceedings. 

The same action was taken by the Senate in reference to 
Messrs. McMillen and Campbell. 

How the right to seats in the Legislature is determined. 

The following resolution, offered by Mr. Bryant, of East 
Baton Rouge, was also adopted: 

"Whereas the legal returning board, com[K>sed of Messrs. 
Lynch, Longstreet, Bovee, and Hawkins, have carefully ex- 



25 

amined, counted, and officially promulgated the election 
returns of members of the House of Representatives, elected 
at a general election held on the 4th day of November, 
1872: therefore, be it 

Besolved, That the members so returned are hereby con- 
firmed as the legal members of the House of Representa- 
tives of the State of Louisiana." 

To the People of the North. 

New Orleans, Dec. 13, 1872. 

The undersigned representatives of houses in the North 
doing business with the South, who have been visiting 
New Orleans for many years past and at present, and are 
thoi'oughly conversant with the political feelings of the 
people of this section, wish to express our opinion at this 
critical juncture of affairs. 

Visiting New Orleans at a season when the city is usu- 
ally full of activity and life, we find every channel of trade 
paralyzed, the State House occupied by troojis, the officers 
of the State threatened and intimidated, and the peo})le cast 
into the deepest gloom by the arbitrary usurpation of power 
and place by political adventurers, backed by a United 
States judge, who has called in the assistance of United 
States troops to execute his decrees. 

After an election, which we believe to have been con- 
ducted as fairly and honestly as any in which the Ameri- 
can people ever participated, finding themselves beaten by 
a large majority of the votes of the citizens of this city and 
State, this unscrupulous and irresponsible body of men have 
resorted to trickery and violence to defeat the execution of 
the will of the people as thus expressed. 

Believing this action the greatest outrage every attempted 
to be carried out in our counti-y, and one which tends di- 
rectly to the overthrow of the liberties of the people, and to 
destroying the power and sacredness of the ballot-box, we 
hereby enter our solemn protest against the high-handed 
action, and appeal to our fellow-citizens of the North to 
unite in protesting to Congress and the President, to the 
end that the legally elected officers of the State may be in- 
stalled in office, and the people of the community supported 
in their efforts to exercise the right of franchise, that they 
may redeem their State from the bankruptcy and ruin with 
which it is now threatened through the action of these 
nameless adventurers. 

Charles A. Griffith, representing A. D. Hopping & 



26 

Wilson, 218 and 220 Washington street, New 

York. 
John D. Dargen, John G. McMurray & Co., 277 Pearl 

street, New York. 
George Lipsher, W. W. Eastham, 129 Broad street, 

Boston. 
Thos. S. Darling, Detroit Watch Works, Detroit, Mich. 
E. P. Briggs, H. & J. W. King, 80 Chambers street, 

New York. 
William C. Ilsley, Ilsley & Co., 254 Pearl street. New 

York. 
W. S. Ridgway, J. W. Gaff & Co., 11 Pub. Landing, 

Cincinnati, Ohio. 
John W. Poole, Wm. R. Warner & Co., 154 North 

Third street, Philadelphia. 
J. H. Hapgood, New York Brush Company, 254 Pearl 

street. New York 
Amos Patten^ W. K. Lewis & Bros., 93 Broad street, 

Boston. 
George D. Strong, La Belle Glass Company, Bridge- 
port, Ohio. 
E. N. Belt, of Cahn, Belt & Co., 32 West Lombard 

street, Baltimore. 
W. R. Bennett, Tilden & Co., New York. 

B. F. Lieber, B. Lieber & Son, 111 and 113 South 

Water street, Philadelphia. 

E. H. Packer, Whittemore Bros., 579 Broadway, New 
York. 

E. H. Packer, Bachelore, Moore & Co., Boston. 

E. H. Packer, M. & H. Shrienkheim, New York. 

E. H. Packer, Corry & Hooper, Boston. 

E. H. Packer, Bedford Chain Company, New York. 

Alexander Torges, Jr., L. A. Strobel & Bros., Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. 

A. Flesh, A. & D. Flesh & Co., Frankfort, Germany, 
and 351 Broadway, New York. 

W. G. Morse, New York city. 

C. E. Knapp, D. P. Ketehum, New York city. 
Frank Hegger, E. H. Van Ingen & Co., New York 

city. 
Donglas H. Duer, John Duer & Son, 24 South Charles 

street, Baltimore. 
William C. Mudge, H. B. Mudge, 95 West Second street, 

Cincinnati. 
E. C. Coolidge, John K. Coolidge & Co., 244 West 

Second street, Cincinnati. 



27 

Ed. V. Bermingham, John McKittrick & Co., 522 

North Main street, St. Louis. 
Edmund J. Godine, Wright Bros. & Co., 324 Broad- 
way, New York. 
Gustave A. Jahn, Frederick Lyman & Co., 90 Wall 

street. New York. 
W. C. Simmons, Jr., Providence, R. I. 
E. Maitland, T. W. Devoe & Co., 115 and 117 Fulton 

street New York. 
A. Rutzer, Linseed Oil Company, 235 Pearl street. New 

York. 
D. Hirsch, of Hirsch & Co., 174 Water street, New 

York. 
Joe Harrison, Royal Chemical Company, 191 Duane 

street, New York. 
J. T. Burdeau, agent Mississippi Valley Transporta- 
tion Comi)any, St. Louis, Mo. 
R. E. Parker, agent McKesson & Bobbins, 91 Fulton 

street. New York. 
T. Simmons, agent Jose})h Schrceder & Co., Balimore, 

Md. 
John Butler, Austin Thorp & Co., New York. 
Albert Ingard, Rubber Clothing Company, New York, 

Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco. 
John Butler, Jr., John Thompson & Co., New York. 
Patrick J. McPliillips, W. H. Horstmann & Sons, New 

York, Philadelphia, and Paris, France. 
J. G. Case, General Superintendent Champion Cotton 

Gin Company, 102 State street, Boston, Mass. 
J. B. Goldstein, H. Block & Co., 23 and 25 East Sec- 
ond street, Cincinnati. 
J. J. H. Hill, Bodenheim, Meyer & Co., 149 Duane 

and 9 Thomas street. New York. 
Henry M. Woolf, Willard Felt & Co., New York. 
George Felthouse, same, Cincinnati. 
J. T. Sanford, Giles, Grales & Co., 13 Maiden Lane, 

New York. 
John G. L'ish, Charles Lippincott & Co., 914 and 916 

Filbert street, Philadelphia. 
S. Y. D. Arrowsmith, Buckenham, Cole & Hall, 10 

Maiden Lane, New York. 
J. P. Todd, firm of W. S. De Van & Co., Cincinnati, 

Ohio. 
Nath. P. Snelling, Pearson Bros. & Co., Boston. 
Alex. Lamby, Paton & Co., New York. 



28 

J. W. Blake, of Hall & Blake, 20 Courtlanclt street, 

New York. 
U. F. Wilcox, John S. Dunham, 117 North Sixth st., 

KSt. Louis, Mo. 
Samuel Friedman, 40 Maiden Lane, New York. 
Charles Lee, Charles Lee, Boston, Mass. 
D. Davies, of A. M. & R. Davies, 508 Broadwaj, New 

York. 
L. Wilkins, A. Henderson, 82 Water street. New York. 
F. C. Rogers, of H. A. Rogers & Co., 50 and 52 John 

street. New York. 
W. N. Johnson, of Mills, Johnson & Co _, Cincinnati. 
Walter Lyon, St. Louis, Mo. 

Editorial article of the New York Herald, of December 26, 1872. 

Is THIS A Republic, and is Louisiana one of the United 
States? — Either this is a re})ublic or it is not. Either the 
States manage their own local affaiis or they do not. 
Whatever appearances may denote, we believe we are not 
rash in assuming that the people of tlie United States do 
live in a republic; further, we boldly quote the Constitution 
and decisions of tlie Supreme Court to prove it incumbent 
upon the United States "to guarantee to every State in the 
Union a republican form of government." In other words, 
every State is a republic within a republic. Now, as our 
creed in the late civil war affirmed secession to be unlawful, 
as we proved the right by our might on the battle-field, 
Louisiana is in the Union, because she never was out of it, 
and is entitled to a republican form of government, because 
she is a State. Hence it follows that the imperial policy 
being pursued towards her is an unwarrantable insult to a 
conquered, law-abiding, free (?) people. Ignorance is a 
two-edged sword. Negroes demoralized by designing lead- 
ers are no better than low whites demoralized ; and what if 
a legislature like that of Louisiana should become uncon- 
trollable? Already its members are loud in their threats 
against their defeated opponents. May it not be possible 
for them to turn upon their white instigators? We say this 
not because negroes are black, but because these particular 
negroes are from necessity totally uneducated, and have 
been played upon ever since they had political power. 

Undoubtedly it was a mistake in the Liberal Republicans 
of Louisiana to dally with Warmoth in the late election. 
* * * * In spite of their aversion they accepted 



29 

liis aid ; but his is the power of the boomerang, and returns 
to delay, if not to destroy, reform. Few of the New Orleans 
committee but were his fierce opponents in the past, yet the 
administration organ in this city intimates that tl)ey are 
"really acting in the interest of Warmoth." And what do 
this committee ask — a committee re{)resenting such vital 
interests as to draw around them thousands of citizens to 
wish them "Godspeed" when, in a drizzling rain, they de- 
part for Washington? What do they ask? Anything 
unreasonable? Why, their story is twice told, and yet we 
shall repeat it again and again, in the hope of bringing the 
North to its senses and Congress to its duty. 

They ask the Federal Government to make a candid and 
impartial investigation of the facts we have so often put 
before our readers. They maintain, and we have ever}' 
reason to believe them, that they have not heretofore been 
concerned in the controversies among the political classes 
which have endangered the peace and brought scandal 
upon the State. They picture two distinct governments 
claiming sovereign jurisdiction, the United States and State 
courts in direct conflict, Judge Durell, under color of the 
enforaement act, overturning the entire State administra- 
tion with one hand, while he seizes an opposition newspaper 
with the other, plotting, we are told, for a nomination to 
the federal Senate. No wonder that strong men weep ; no 
wonder that commercial travelers in New Orleans, repre- 
senting more than thirty New York houses, address a me- 
morial to the people of the North, protesting against the 
"arbitrary usur[)ation of power and place by political ad- 
venturers, backed by a United States judge, who has called 
in tlie assistance of United States troops to execute his 
decrees ! ' ' 

It was not treason that the Liberal Republican Governor- 
elect preached. From all sides we learn that the State 
election was peaceable. There was every evidence at first 
of John. McEuery's election, and that he should have asked 
the President to suspend recognition of both governments 
until there could be laid before iiim all the facts, seems 
to us based u[)on far more sense of justice than Attorney 
General Williams's immediate recognition of Pinchback, 
who, with a roving commission from nobody, but sui)ported 
by federal bayonets, now legislates headlong out of office 
whatever Senator or Assemblyman incurs his dread dis- 
pleasure. 



30 

We do not believe, nor do the committee believe, that 
the President desires to tyrannize over the South. * * 
General Grant asks for peace, and we contend that a peacer 
able union is utterly impossible so long as there is usurpa- 
tion in any part of the country. Northern Republicans 
disbelieve in the sincerity of Southern Unionists, and hence 
are ready to support carpet-baggers. We assure them that 
no disbelief ever had less foundation in fact, that no people 
were ever more ready to accept the situation ; but that the 
best way to foster hatred and revolution is to carry out the 
guerrilla warfare of adventurers like Pinchback. It is quite 
possible for a negro or a northern man to be a rascal. It is 
quite possible for a southern man to be honest. Let honesty 
prevail, and good government will ensue. Let Congress de- 
mand a thorough investigation, ap]3ointing investigators 
without fear and without reproach, and Louisiana will be 
satisfied. Her best people are not so much averse to Kel- 
logg as they fear his Legislature. Let the election records 
be closely scanned. Attorney General Williams admits 
that there may have been "irregularities in the registra- 
tion and election." "Irregularities" is a mild term for 
tampering with the ballot-box, the a3gis of our liberty, and 
comes with rare grace from the Attorney General of the 
United States ; but the admission is alone sufficient for 
action, and if upon reassembling Congress does not hearken 
to the voice of press and people, we shall believe that there 
are things far more rotten here than in Denmark. 



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CONGRESS 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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